Broncos close out home schedule with split of twinbill

Thursday

Jul 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMJul 30, 2009 at 5:12 AM

Kyle Tiernan and Travis Whipple made some lasting memories in their final game of the season at McDonald Stadium.

Whipple hit two home runs and Tiernan had four hits as the El Dorado Broncos beat the Midnight Sun Goldpanners 6-1 Wednesday night in the Broncos’ final home game of the season in the second game of a day-night doubleheader.

John Curtis

Kyle Tiernan and Travis Whipple made some lasting memories in their final game of the season at McDonald Stadium.

Whipple hit two home runs and Tiernan had four hits as the El Dorado Broncos beat the Midnight Sun Goldpanners 6-1 Wednesday night in the Broncos’ final home game of the season in the second game of a day-night doubleheader.

The Broncos lost to Derby 4-2 in the afternoon contest. That game was moved up to accomodate the game against the Alaskan team.

Whipple (Louisiana-Lafayette)?hit a solo home run in a two-run first inning for the Broncos (33-9, 21-9), then closed out the scoring with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth. The left-handed outfielder has 10 home runs on the season for El Dorado.

“I felt pretty bad about the first game (against Derby), because I had a pretty bad game,”?Whipple said. “I kind of worked a little bit on my swing before this game, and I felt a little more comfortable.

“I think we were all a little bit more ready for the second game. Taking a loss like we did (against Derby)?got some of our guys and we came out swinging a lot better. We came out hard and got the win in our last home game.”

Tiernan (Murray State)?went 4-for-4 against the Goldpanners (12-10), including a two-run single in the bottom of the second inning, at the leadoff spot in the order. On the day, Tiernan, who was 5-for-8 with three runs batted in for the Broncos, said he wanted to finish his time at McDonald Stadium in a big way.

“It did kind of bother (me)?before the game that this was our last game here; but once the game started, it was just time to play,” Tiernan said. “I had been looking at a lot of pitches; and tonight, I just figured I’d go to the plate swinging tonight.

“I just wanted to get swings early in the count so I didn’t get two strikes and have to battle from there.”

Elliot Frey (Murray State)?also had a RBI single in the first inning to knock in El Dorado’s first run against the Alaskan squad.

Chris Craycraft’s scoreless innings streak ended at 26 when Josh Kalalau (Seattle) hit a RBI double in the top of the first. Craycraft (Murray State) settled down after that, not allowing another hit in his three innings of work.

Justin Lindsey (Kansas State)?was the winning pitcher for the Broncos. Lindsey struck out five and walked two in his three innings of work for the win. The Goldpanners didn’t get another hit in the game after Kalalau’s hit. Mike Nixon (Central Michigan), Matt Thiesen (Texas-Tyler) and Mathias Simmons (Neosho CC) all pitched one inning in the win.

Derby 4, El Dorado 2

The Twins beat the Broncos for the third time at McDonald Stadium, shutting down the El Dorado offense after the fifth inning.

Derby (21-18, 16-15) scored two runs in the third and one in the fourth off losing pitcher Bryant Cotton (Saint Louis), who was pitching in only his second game of the season after coming off an arm injury during the spring.

Kevin Hall (Wichita State)?hit a two-run single in the third, while Will Fiel (Central Michigan) had a RBI double in the second.

The Broncos got on the board with a RBI single from Frey in the bottom of the third inning. Graham Tyler (Brown)?hit a single and went to second on a throwing error. Matt Langseth (Cornell)?bunted him to third before Frey’s hit.

Tiernan hit a RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. David Allbritton (Barton CC-Emporia State) was hit by a pitch, then went oto second on a sacrifice bunt by Tyler before scoring.

But the Broncos couldn’t take advantage with runners in scoring position and only one out, leaving them stranded on second and third. El Dorado got only one more runner on base after that.

Mike Kelly (Loyola-New Orleans) was the winning pitcher for the Twins. Kelly threw three innings, giving up two hits and a run while striking out four.

The Broncos play at Derby on Saturday night to close out the regular season, then will play in the NBC World Series. Tentatively, the Broncos are scheduled to play an unknown opponent at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the 36-team tournament at Wichita’s Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

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